[Ad-Rock]Been had a little horsey named Paul Revere
Just me and my horsey and a quart of beer
Riding across the land, kicking up sand
Sheriff's posse on my tail 'cause I'm in demand
One lonely Beastie I be
All by myself without nobody
The sun is beating down on my baseball hat
The air is getting hot, the beer is getting flat
Looking for a girl, I ran into a guy
His name was MCA, I said howdy, he said hi

About “Paul Revere”

Released in 1986 on Licensed to Ill, this song helped make the Beastie Boys–it’s the tale of how they got acquainted. The title is a little misleading, as it has nothing to do with the American figure, Paul Revere; that’s just the name of Adrock’s horse. Reportedly, the inspiration for this song came when the Beastie Boys were waiting outside a recording studio for Run-DMC, and Joseph Simmons, aka Run, came booking down the street, screaming incoherently. When he reached the Beastie Boys, he said, “Here’s a little story I got to tell…” And from there, the two groups collaborated on the lyrics.

It’s produced by Rick Rubin, and is remarkable for the 808 drumbeat played in reverse.

“That backwards 808? If I think right, it was actually Joe, Run, from Run-DMC. It was his idea to flip the tape up. He was there, like, ‘Hey, y'all should flip the tape around so that shit’s backwards.’ Either that, or we had it on backwards and he heard it, he bugged out, and that’s when he said, ‘Y'all have to do a story rhyme over the shit.’ And he came in started writing the shit with us.” –Michael Diamond, 1995

The track was co-produced by Beastie Boys, engineered by Steve Ett, and mastered by Howie Weinberg. Beastiemania reports that “Paul Revere” has been performed in 105 known concerts.